35 years of magic leads to septuagenarian’s arrest

MAKKAH – Police surveillance for over a month led to the arrest on Monday of a 70-year-old African man on charges of claiming “magic powers to win over hearts and affections and tempt women and teenagers”. The man was caught in a police sting in which an undercover officer was asked for SR10,000 and “sheep hooves worth SR500” in order to “gain the affection and love of his wife”. Officers recovered from the site of the man’s activities in Al-Mansour Street bottles of “unidentified liquids, long strings of prayer beads, talismans and twigs from trees”. The man, who was residing in the Kingdom illegally, reportedly confessed to engaging in his practices for over 35 years. – Okaz/SG